We are with two of our ARC friends out shopping and exploring markets and the wonderful food co-op at Nurioopta about half an hour drive from Kaunda. Max and Coco are sharing a crate in the back of the Jeep. He is sleeping with his head on the water bowl, while she appears to be cuddling her bed. It was freezing last night - literally. BOM recorded the minimum temperature as -2.1°C at 5.46am. The Jeep had an iced windscreen and there was a light frost on the ground. At least we are enjoying a sunny day, even if the wind is cold.

We arrived at Kapunda yesterday and set up camp for 5 days. The Aussie Road Crew gig doesn't start till Sunday, but many Roadies are already here with us. Our visits to country vet clinics continue. Yesterday it was Max with a suspected UTI which was confirmed on testing. Today it was Coco's turn. Two nights ago I put 4 socks on his paws to stop his claws scratching the cupboards in the van. In the morning there were only 3 socks. We searched high and low but have still not found the missing sock. When he woke this morning with an upset tummy and vomiting, it was off to the vet in case these symptoms were caused by him having swallowed the sock. We decided to just watch and monitor, and so far no more problems. Our family outing was a visit with my niece, nephew and their gorgeous kids - two 4 year olds and a 2 year old who is as tall as as the others.

After two nights at home we took off on Sunday with the Bushtracker and our four geriatric critters. It was a whirlwind of unpacking suitcases, washing, packing the van etc, all while suffering jetlag. We drove towards Adelaide to join our next Aussie Road Crew tour with Beccy Cole and Libby O'Donovan. Our chosen route was via motorways towards Toowoomba, but we skirted around that city because there was likely to be heavy traffic as people visit the gardens on Sundays in spring. We followed Flagstone Creek Rd past farms in a fertile valley, eventually joining the A39. Our first overnight stop was a free camp in Goodiwindi. This was in town but was full by 4pm when we arrived. There was space in a 2 hour parking spot so we stayed put. Next stop was a basic caravan park in Coonamble. At Walgett there is a primitive camping ground where we had lunch. With the drought the sign commanding all vehicles to keep off the grass seems redundant. We stopped just outside Wilcannia revisiti

We stayed at the Treasury Casino because we knew our plane would land too late to sensibly travel to the Gold Coast and disturb our house sitter, critters or the neighbours. We were upgraded to a suite which had previously been the office of the Minister for Planning. The ceiling must be 16 foot high. The original cedar doors are about 10 foor tall including the fanlights. We had booked a car with driver to take us home. There was hardly any traffic and we were home within an hour, to be greeted by very happy critters.

Today was our last day in London as we start our journey home tomorrow. We caught the tube to Camden Market and walked along the High Street and through the Stables Market. The small canal boat passed through the lock while we were there. The lock gates are still operated manually. There are two locks side by side reducing the amount of water needed to raise or lower the boats. Rather than go back to the Underground we walked more than 4kms back to Piccadilly and Soho, with breaks for tea and sustenance. There is extensive building work along Tottenham Park Road, as in many other parts of London. We have seen a lot but there will always be more to see on another visit.

Last night we had a great time at the Book of Mormons at the Prince of Wales Theatre. It was a very slick production and the performers were all fabulously talented. These days there are reassuring security checks at most of the theatres.

Today we had a great catch up with friends over brunch at a dog friendly cafe as they brought Percy the pooch with them. We are staying at a Premier Inn near Victoria Station so caught the Underground to Finsbury Park. The hardest part of the journey was finding an entrance to the Underground as many entrances are turned into exits during peak hour. The Finsbury Park area is full of contrasts from traditional pubs to German owned supermarkets. We have been lucky with the weather as it was a warm sunny day, but not too hot.

We parted with our hire car at Gatwick Airport then caught the 30 minute express train service to Victoria Station at great expense. It was clean and efficient. These building works caught my attention. The verandas on all of these apartments have sliding glass doors - great in winter but could create a sauna on hot days.

My father Graham was the second youngest of six - 4 boys and 2 girls. There are 3 surviving siblings - Graham and his younger brother Malcolm living in Australia, while Les who is in his 90s is in Ireland. The eldest son was Bill who married Pam - the 4 on the left are their children and my first cousins Godfrey, Michelle, Doug and Jackie. My cousin Kathy lives in New Zealand. Paul standing next to me is one of Kathy's brothers. We also have second cousins from two branches of the family living in NZ. Jackie was our very generous host and Godfrey the BBQ chef. We had a lovely lunch with salads contributed by other family members. Godfey also showed us some old family photos he had scanned from old negatives discovered in his father's belongings. We met multiple second cousins and in-laws and had a very enjoyable catchup.

Our drive avoiding motorways was interesting and incident free. We paused at the small village of Old Oxted which has a short high street with four pubs and not much else. We revisited places in Crawley, especially Affogato which serves passable coffee. Anita found a nice shirt to buy in Marks and Spencer, then we were off to visit my cousins.

This building near Chipping Norton was the Bliss Tweed Mill which ceased operation in 1980 when it was converted into posh apartments. Some of the apartments still have old machinery in them. We left the Cotswolds yesterday for our anticipated 2 hour drive to Swanley. Four and a half hours later we arrived - a car and motorcycle crash on the M25 caused major delays. I have convinced Anita we should avoid motorways today when we drive to Crawley to meet part of the Winters Clan. Some people use the motorways as racetracks. Several vehicles have flashed past us doing 90mph, and one must have topped 100mph. We have only seen one radar speed camera being operated by police, and there have been very few police vehicles on the roads - except at the scenes of crashes.

After a long day in the car yesterday we limited our driving to nearby villages. First stop was Moreton-in-Marsh then picturesque Broadway where two young women were riding their horses through the town. The deer are on a private estate near Broadway. I saw several walkers passing through the estate following the Cotswold Way trail.

Today we opted to travel on the motorways from Ambleside to Little Compton. Theoretically that should have been a four hour drive plus a couple of stops. It ended up being seven and a half hours due to congestion caused by roadworks and crashes. The route avoiding motorways would have been about six hours, but the motorway congestion may have affected some of the surrounding A roads. Our BnB for two nights is the award winning Old School Bed and Breakfast at Little Compton. The current owners Wendy and John have done a wonderful job renovating this place and deserve its five star rating.

We drove to the west coast of England, via Grasmere where we explored briefly. St Bees is the western most point of England. The cliffs are the distinctive red sandstone used in early buildings. It is the start point of the 309km coast to coast walk from the Irish Sea, which ends at Robin Hood's Bay on the North Sea. St Bees is a major holiday destination for beach goers - if a pile of stones constitutes a beach. The uninviting caravan park has dozens of mobile homes, but no other facilities. The local council has created a very scenic dog toilet.